Our granddaughter Reese Nicole, 11-24-09

Our youngest granddaughter Reese Nicole was born to our oldest daughter Melissa Nicole. She was born on Nov. 24th, 2009, exactly 2 years to the day, that her grandfather Lewis Leroy Norris Jr. passed away. So although she never got to meet him, she has plenty of pictures to know him by.

Happy and anxious mom and dad waiting for her!!

Finally she arrives!!

Proud Nana and Poppa!!

Overwhelmed with happiness!!

Hearing test time!!

Sleeping on daddy's arm!! Such a happy time for everyone! Such a little sweetie!!

Dysfunctions Full Throttle

All the years of counseling and therapy, won't cure you of all the deep down, embedded dysfunctions that shaped you, your personality and the way you interact with the ones you are closest with. Over 29 years of therapy for me and, in an instant, I can go back 50 years and feel 6 all over again.

At that moment, I feel the need to scream, leave, put ear plugs in or just plain drift away to another planet. I need silence to get away from that point and time. The last thing needed is to hear more, or explanations of why what's said, is said. No explanations needed, that doesn't help, I've already heard it and I've already gone to THAT place and time.

Maybe I do need even more therapy, counseling, EMDR, hypnosis, whatever. Just STOP!!!!

Fred Lyn Kendall - MLB Player, my cousin

Freddie began his career in 1969 when he was 20 years old and started with the San Diego Padres as a catcher (1969-1976 and 1979-1980). During his 12 seasons as a MLB player, he also played for The Cleveland Indians (1977) and The Boston Red Sox (1978). 

He was born on Jan. 31st, 1949 to a woman named Rose. Rose had 3 son's, Freddie, Jimmy, and Kenny. I don't know who the father of her 3 son's were, but they divorced when the boys were young. Rose then married my uncle, Arthur Kendall. Arthur was one of 3 son's from my grandmother, also named Rose. Arthur aka Rick, was a good husband and step father to Rose's 3 son's, and decided to adopt them. That is how they got their last name of Kendall. They later divorced and she again, married.

I remember my father, also named Fred Kendall, being so proud to call Freddie his nephew. He bragged about him all the time. Below is a picture of me and Freddie in about 1997. He was at the Lakewood Batting Cages with his son, also famous MLB player, Jason Kendall. 

Below is my daughter Ashley, Freddie, my mom, and my daughter Melissa, also at the Lakewood Batting cages.

After retiring in 1980, Freddie spent 4 seasons as a minor league manager for the Chicago White Sox. He has been bullpen coach with the Detroit Tigers, the Colorado Rockies and Kansas City Royals. From 2003 - 2005, he was the Rockies' minor league catching coordinator. In Oct. 2007, it was announced that he would not be retained by the Royals.

Dog Bite - YIKES!!!

On March 18, 2010, I started my day by driving from Laguna Niguel, CA to Hesperia, CA to the animal shelter up there, to help with a transport. This was about an 89 mile trip (one way) to pick up a Weimaraner breed dog, named Smokey and transport him to Sun Valley, CA which was another 87 miles (one way) to a Weimaraner Rescue. This is Smokey at his jail break!!

While I was in Hesperia, I was asked to also take a small terrier/mix type dog, named Parker, with me and another rescue person would meet me in Sun Valley to pick him up. Here is Parker.

I drove 87 miles to Sun Valley. After I arrived, they came out and took Smokey to the back. I was waiting for the other Rescue, (Michelle) to meet me there to pick up Parker. It was very hot out there, so I asked the Weim Rescue there, for a bowl of water for Parker. After the Rescue arrived for Parker, I took the bowl and slid it under the fence, where I thought Smokey was standing. It turned out that it wasn't Smokey, but instead, another Weimaraner that looked EXACTLY like Smokey. Within a flash of a second, I was bit. It happened so quickly that I wasn't even sure if I had gotten bit, or maybe just bumped my hand on the bottom of the fence, as I was pulling my hand out, so quickly. I grabbed my hand with my other hand. Soon the blood began to spill. Michelle pulled up in her car to see what had happened. She looked at it and determined that I needed to get to an ER immediately. WHAT???

I was out in the middle of the San Fernando Valley, a region of Los Angeles, CA. I did not know the area at all. So Michelle Googled the nearest hospital and had me follow her there. It was St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank and was some 10-12 miles away. She offered to drive me but I managed with one hand. I couldn't and wouldn't look at my hand in fear of passing out. It wasn't until after I had the stitches, that I looked, by the orders of the ER doctor!! This is what I saw!!

What should have taken me about an hour and a half to get home, I was now in rush hour traffic and it took me 3 and a half hours to finally get home. My husband offered to drive out and pick me up, but then we would've had to come back another day to pick up his truck.


I was instructed by the ER doctor to visit my GP the very next day, which I did.   Here is my goofy Dr. Foster posing with my injury, the very next day!!

This is Day 8 after the dog bite!!

This is Day 11 below.

This is Day 20 below.

And, this is Day 26 after the bite.

I was kind of traumatized for awhile to pet large dogs, in fear of them biting me. One snap and it did all that damage to my hand. It is still numb in spots but that is pretty much all that lingers. Here is a picture of my hand today, 4 years and 4 months later.

Day 26

How many siblings do I have???

I know for a fact that I have 6 sisters, 3 older and 3 younger. Only 1 has the same mother and father as me. Her name is Diana June and she is 2.5 yrs older than me, born Aug. 24, 1955. I was then born Jan. 12, 1958. Diana is on the left, my mom Kazuko (83 yrs old) in the middle and me on the right. (Mother's Day 2012)

I'd love to post a picture of my two oldest sisters but I don't have any, nor do I know them or have I ever met them. My mom didn't even know there were any other children by my father until after they divorced and she stumbled upon the pictures. That is when my aunt Betty and uncle Jim Cooper (my dad's half brother) told her who they were. Evidently, my dad fathered them with the same female when he was 13 and 14 years old. It was when her parents threatened him, to either marry their daughter or get out of town, that he joined the Army. This was in 1951-1952-ish, when he was 17 or 18. When he joined the Army, his past life just disappeared! (Another post, another time!)

While my dad was married to my mother and living here in the States, and after Diana and I were born, he impregnated a 16 year old child. That was in 1959 and she was born in 1960. Her name is Susan, we called her Suzie.

The lady on the left is Carol Kendall, formerly known as Carol Johnson, the 16 year old child that my dad got pregnant. I am next to her with my babysitter Jane and then my younger half sister Susan. This was my 5th birthday party, so it was 1963 and my sister Susan was 2 1/2 years old. The grey haired man on the far left was known to us as Uncle John and the boy on the far right was a neighbor kid, that lived behind us named Steven.

This is around the time that my father was impregnating, yet another young female. She was a 19 year old named Coreen. Soon after, he and Carol divorced, Carol took Susan and moved away. No one knew where they went and all contact was lost. We missed her and wanted to know her but there was no chance of finding her. All letters went unanswered and were returned to sender. My dad fathered two more daughters with Coreen. I knew them also, Theresa and Tammy. They all moved to Indiana as a family but shortly after their relocation, and after years of alcoholism and abuse, they divorced. We lost contact with them and never saw them again. I don't have any pictures of them and have tried unsuccessfully, over the years, to find them.

These are the siblings that I am aware of. There may, very well be more, but I will never know as any relatives that may have known, are no longer with us. So there you have it, six of us girls that I am aware of and only two that I know and four that I don't.

Here is my half sister Susan in about 1995, me being around 37 and her about 35. She had two children, Gabriel and Hannah, at this point and lived in Vancouver, WA with her husband.

After not knowing our father all of her life, they did reconnect in about 1981. She did get to speak with him, on many occasions before he passed away, although they never did get to meet in person.  This is another story for another time. I am very thrilled to have reconnected with her after a lifetime of wondering about her and missing her. I love you Susan!!!

SECRET REGRET - Sexual Abuse victim

I have many, but my biggest regret is not turning my step dad Benny Allen Kirkland into the Police, for molesting my sister and I for most of our childhood. I am just very thankful that he is dead already, so he cannot harm any other children. Here is the face of a child molester.

This is Jan 1962, which would've made me 4 years old and my sister Diana, 6 1/2 years old. Ben was 23 years old here and what would lie ahead, no one ever knew. 

I Have Hashimoto's Disease!!

I guess knowing  that I have this disease, is not as bad as knowing that I have Cancer or some other life threatening disease. I am grateful for that!

On the other hand, I have always been pretty darn healthy and strong. I have noticed my many ailments for many years now, but assumed it was a natural progression of aging. I know my mother's health history and she is still very healthy at the ripe age of 85. My father's health, well that's a different story. I have no idea what he had, at what age, or even what type of medication he took. He was very abusive to his body and I know a lot of what he suffered from, came from that abuse.

Below is a picture of the thyroid gland.

So where did my Hashimoto's disease come from? It could be hereditary, since I don't know my father's health history, or any family member on his side of the family. Here is a capsulized version of what it is.


DEFINITION:

It's a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid, causing Hypothyroidism, which is an underactive thyroid gland.


SYMPTOMS:

• Fatigue and sluggishness
• Increased sensitivity to cold
• Constipation
• Pale, dry skin
• A puffy face
• Hoarse voice
• Unexplained weight gain - occurring infrequently and rarely exceeding 10-20 pounds, most of which is fluid
• Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness, especially in your shoulders and hips
• Pain and stiffness in your joints and swelling in your knees or the small joints in your hands and feet
• Muscle weakness, especially in your lower extremities
• Excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia)
• Depression

CAUSES:

Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disorder, in which your immune system creates antibodies that damage your thyroid gland.

A combination of factor's - including hereditary, sex and age - may determine your likelihood of developing the disorder.


TESTS AND DIAGNOSIS:

• Blood tests to test your hormones
• An antibody test (because it's an autoimmune disorder)

TREATMENTS AND DRUGS:

Synthetic hormones, such as Levothyroxine (Levoxyl, Synthroid, others)

Monitoring the dosage by having repeat appointments with an Endocrinologist and having blood tests.


So there you have it, I am currently on 50 mcg's of Levo-thyroxine, but this is subject to change as my thyroid produces less and less hormones. My Endocrinologist says that my thyroid will eventually stop working altogether. So, now I know why I gained so much weight (for no apparent reason), was tired beyond belief (I could've slept all day long!) and why every muscle in my body aches and are tight all of the time.

I do have symptoms of Fibromyalgia, and have been told that I have it, by my Orthopedic and Rheumatologist doctors. There is no one test that can be given to diagnose it. My Rheumatologist did the 10-12 point pressure test but this is not a diagnostic test. So, in the meantime, until they have a definitive test, I "think" I have it. That is another blog at another time.